Reports: Chinese Moving Military to Border With Hong Kong
Regional tensions lead to China nixing Hong Kong port visits by two US Navy ships.
When I began covering the protests in Hong Kong, I noted that China had two options for dealing with the city-state’s citizens and their demands for freedom and justice: Cooperation or crackdown.
Clearly, the decision has been made.
Large numbers of Chinese paramilitary forces have been filmed assembling just 30km (18.6 miles) from Hong Kong in the city of Shenzhen, as riot police clashed with protesters occupying the airport for a second day.
The scuffles broke out in the evening between police and protesters, after paramedics attempted to reach an injured man whom protesters had detained on suspicion of being an undercover agent.
The burst of violence included protesters beating up at least two men they suspected of being undercover agents. Police have acknowledged using “decoy” officers, and the violence followed weekend sightings of men dressed like demonstrators – in black and wearing face masks – appearing to arrest protesters.
In both instances, angry demonstrators pushed past people trying to hold them back and attacked the men, binding their wrists together and beating them to the ground. The two were eventually taken away by paramedics.
This information is supported by President Donald Trump’s message, “Our Intelligence has informed us that the Chinese Government is moving troops to the Border with Hong Kong. Everyone should be calm and safe!”
Our Intelligence has informed us that the Chinese Government is moving troops to the Border with Hong Kong. Everyone should be calm and safe!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2019
In fact, Chinese propaganda outlets warned that protesters in Hong Kong are “asking for self-destruction,” as they released a video showing military vehicles amassing near the border of the city.
Additionally, U.S. officials say the Chinese government has denied requests for two U.S. Navy ships to make port visits to Hong Kong.
Cmdr. Nate Christensen, deputy spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said Tuesday said the amphibious transport dock ship Green Bay had been scheduled to visit Hong Kong on Aug. 17 and the guided-missile cruiser Lake Erie was scheduled to visit in September.
Christensen said it was up to China to say why it denied the requests.
He said the U.S. Navy expects port visits to Hong Kong to resume. The last Navy ship to visit was the 7th Fleet’s flagship Blue Ridge in April 2019.
Finally, it appears that the airport protests will continue.
Anti-government protesters clashed with Hong Kong riot police on Tuesday, crippling the airport for the second straight day and targeting a potent symbol of the city’s position as a global center of commerce and finance that is essential to China.
The mass protests have forced the airport to suspend check-ins, creating long delays for passengers and forcing airlines to cancel hundreds of flights over the past two days. The disruptions were expected to continue through Wednesday.
The protests at the airport are deeply tactical, as the largely leaderless movement strikes at a vital economic artery.
I sure hope our leaders are planning what to do if China goes full Tiananmen Square in Hong Kong.
“Beijing wants to use the threat of sending in the PLA, or other direct intervention, to try to scare off the protesters,” said Ben Bland, research fellow at the Lowy Institute in Sydney.
“But given the high level of operational risk – and the reputational and economic risks to China – sending in the PLA would be a dangerous move,” Bland said.
China’s brutal 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square resulted in two years of economic near-stagnation as the country became an international pariah.
The fallout from any similar intervention in Hong Kong would be far more severe.
The long-term stability of the international financial hub is crucial to China’s economic well-being, and images of Chinese troops or riot police on the streets would be broadcast and live-streamed around the world.
I am not consoled by the “economic protection” the city’s international status offers. I sense China is entirely willing to gamble that any potential brutality and suppression will be conveniently forgotten in due time.
However, for the time being, Hong Kong’s cries for freedom continue.
Protesters in Hong Kong waving the American flag and singing the American National anthem as they advocate for democracy. Wow! pic.twitter.com/CKyFstud22
— Kaya Jones (@KayaJones) August 12, 2019
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Comments
Shortly there will be a concerted effort at a communications blackout, then we’ll get Tank Man v2.0
Hong Kong will soon experience what the dems love about Communism.
NFL…you Watching?
Hiring JZ… got to be kidding
Just when they thought it was safe to go woke again
These protesters have more understanding of what the American flag represents than the majority of American athletes and youth
They are literally putting their lives on the line for it.
What say you?.
Before John Bolton gets too strung out, we all here in the west have to understand our options are limited. Yeah, we can whistle and shout and wave wooden swords.
If China goes in, in the immediate time frame it will cause them some very bad publicity. And the west will get to parade its virtue. Long term? Nada.
If folks in the west were worrying about the long-term fate of Hong Kong, the time to do something about it was when the UK handed the place back to China. Everyone knew darn well then the fate of Hong Kong. The only open question was when.
BTW, the flag the demonstrators should be waving is the Union Jack, not the Stars and Stripes. Why they aren’t waving the Union Jack tells you they know damn well Europe won’t raise a finger to help. So, yeah.
Reach out to the suckers in America.
Remember Somalia? Iraq?
I feel sorry for the people of Hong Kong.
But that’s about it.
Will Europeans stop trading with China if troops start committing mass murder? The answer to that question can be found in how the Europeans respond to U.S. inspired sanctions on the mullahs in Iran.
Check over at Mark Steyn….The British Hong Kong ensign was first displayed. As with The Square.. it does gravitate to USA symbols. There is a price for liberty and it is causing too great a dent in consumer economics.
While your cynicism is probably warranted, I’ll just make note of a few things left unsaid –
John Bolton – You mention Bolton as though he has anything to do with this.
“And the west will get to parade its virtue. Long term? Nada.”
I think you’re off here. If the Chinese create a Tiananmen event the price will be severe. HK already has a problem. When the freedom that currently exists gets removed the 300K foreign population will likely move and thousands of business operating in HK will also move. Banking will move. I can’t say what the Chinese will do but there will be a price and it will not be a virtue parade.
“Everyone knew darn well then the fate of Hong Kong. The only open question was when.”
No, many believed that China would by now be a much more open place and therefore HK would be OK. I didn’t believe it but recognized it as a possible. The Brits were chickenshit and had no capability to go any further.
“BTW, the flag the demonstrators should be waving is the Union Jack, not the Stars and Stripes.”
You really don’t know what flags have been waved, you only know which ones you’ve seen on TV. In any event, I’m happy a bunch of kids in HK look up to the USA as their goal.
We have economic weapons that can be used, and Trump has been using them. The Chinese have to know that a Tiananmen event in HK is not going to get ignored. In fact it will be a disaster for the communists in China, and they know it. Do not forget, the commies have their own business interests tied up in HK as well.
The commies may ignore it all, I wouldn’t doubt it. But they’re not stupid, there will be a high cost. We’ll see how it plays out. The USA is not contemplating any military action but we certainly will use economic actions.
…..And now we all know why we have so many people in this country who assert their right to bear arms.
It’s a shame, too, because the Chinese need the people of Hong Kong. The Chinese are very comfortable with an imperial rule, including an imperial rule by their version of the communists. However, their prosperity compared to the West over the last several decades is lagging, and the Chinese do appreciate prosperity.
Hong Kong is China with more freedom. China should not squash Hong Kong: it should ask their advice.
China promised to uphold the “one country, two systems” policy until 2047. They’re about to accelerate that schedule.
If you like your system, you can keep your system.
The chi comms were smart about the negotiations with Britain in the handover of Hong Kong. The British were stupid, once again.
The chi comms understand patience and persistence. They knew this day would come, and they had the present plan all along. Part fo their plan was to exploit the swamp/left/islamic axis, either with money or using them as spies in the US. Any smart fascist looking in on the US and seeing the election of the likes of Clinton – and then, obama, for God’s sake – would see the gigantic chinks in the American armor, and begin exploiting them.
The Chinese are an ancient culture. In fact, Confucius said: It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.
Next chi comm focus: Taiwan. Bump in the road: Trump/us.
The US granted Hong Kong special trade status prior to their 1997 handover to China. It allows the US President to revoke the status if China takes over. So there’s a lot of money on the line for China, but of course they can’t allow these protests to continue either.
I’m very sympathetic towards the protesters, but do they really think that Trump will start World War 3 to protect them?
He doesn’t have to start WW3. The Chinese are in a very precarious position economically.
Trump and his business team know all the levers which can be pressed.
A little known/understood fact: There are riots and protests in mainland China towns every day. They are not reported but they are occurring. A sufficient economic downturn could threaten the commies reign of power. The Chinese have a lot to lose if they push too hard too fast.
It’s unfortunate, this will not end well for the citizens of Hong Kong. Chi Coms cannot/will not allow any semblance of freedom.
I’m old enough to recall 1968, when all the smart money said that leonid Brezhnev had too much to lose if he crushed the Prague Spring. But Brezhnev ended up dying after presiding over a Communist empire still pretty much intact, and the US in eclipse.
The government in Beijing simply cannot allow any hint that dissidence against the party-state can succeed.
HK’s only hope is if this dissent spreads to the rest of China.
“…and the US in eclipse.”
How so? We know the outcome.
“HK’s only hope is if this dissent spreads to the rest of China.”
It goes on in China every day. It just isn’t reported, nor is it in the larger cities to get noticed. At least it was up until a few years ago. I assume it is still there. OTOH, it is known that Xi is ruthless and there were crackdowns. It may be on simmer now.
The USA was in eclipse during the period when Brezhnev presided over the Soviet Union. The dominoes were falling everywhere in Asia and Africa, and the Soviets were well on their way to standing athwart the Central American isthmus in Nicaragua. The US clearly had lost the Viet Nam War, the Nixon-Kissinger team decided it had to throw Taiwan under the bus of Communist “inevitability”, and Kissinger himself believed his historic role was to get the best deal possible for the USA in an era of Soviet hegemony. Then we ended up with the malaise of the Carter years.
Ultimately, the Soviet Union did collapse; probably as much from the strains its own burgeoning hegemony placed on its weak economic system as from Reagan’s willingness to prod at Afghanistan and Poland.
“Ultimately, the Soviet Union did collapse…”
And the USA ascended.
You can try to hand wave away the reasons the Soviet Union collapsed and the US ascended. It will not change the facts – that we were in a long protracted cold war with the soviet commies, with occasional hot spots, and we won. Any other reading of that is just BS.
“The US clearly had lost the Viet Nam War…”
Actually, no we didn’t. The USA never lost a major battle in the Vietnam War, not one. We signed peace accords with the North after Nixon decided to include Hanoi in the war.
Democrats lost South Vietnam because they refused to help them financially when the North reneged on its peace agreement.
The Soviets meddled everywhere – they didn’t get Nicaragua.
Taiwan still stands independently 50 years later.
The Soviet Union collapsed.
Frankly, you’re flat wrong on your entire assessment.
What we need to do is accelerate the transfer of F-16Vs and M1-A1s to Taiwan so they can be ready when their turn comes. Missiles also.
I fully agree.